Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-01-20
VALUABLE COY ERNMENr BOOKS.
A Patent Attorney Talks 40, Ut Some Much
Coveted Documents.
Washington Post


A Patent Attorney Talks ut Some Much
Coveted Documents.
Washington Post.
"An author who gets $4,000 fer Il single
book usually considers himself pretty
we'll paid, does he notYN queried we'll
known Patent attorney of n reporter.
The latter hungrily murmured Yes and
fell into deep, four-dimensional reyery
of a contemplated book of his own. And
you will acknowledge that most govern
ment publications are valued by the
pound-j unk-shop measurement insiuu-
ated the attorney.
''Yesf Wen there are ten books in the
United States patent Office for the ALSO
luto and unconditional possession of
which | would cheeSfully hand over my
check for S50,000-S5 $4,000 apiece. They
are still in manuscripts, and probably viii
not be printed not right away
The reporter woke up and listened
CHOSE books are the letter books con
tanning the names and addresses of in
ventors, with the titles of inventions,
whose cases have been rejected during
the past ten years.
"To commence at the beginning, there
has been an average of $4,000 cases flied
in the patent Office every year for the last
ten years, and a yearly average of $4,000
patents granted Last year there were
$4,000 applications fled and $4,000 pat
ents issued, an unusual number. On this
showing about 60 per cent. of the applica-
tions have gone to patent. So there
have been during the last ten days about
100000 objected cases. These in part
include cases defeated in interferences
and applications allowed, but on which
final fees have not been paid, be.
cause the inventions proved imperative
or for some similar reason.
"Now good attorneys get fully SO per
cent of their cases allowed and patented
hence there must be some reason for
only GO per cent. of the applications be
ing allowed. The reason is this. Fully
eight thousand inventors every year
make out their cases and try TO get them
through the patent Office. Not knowing
the routine, they almost invariably get
involved in the meshes OF red tape an d
procedure and fail by the way. The diff
Guilty may oe very slight, mere formal
ity, "A defective i drawing, an
improper worded application. an indef-
mite specification, slight interference,
or a few decided amendments, which q
regular patent attorney could overcome
in half hour, but 20 the inventor proves
an unsurmountable obstacle; his appli-
cation is rejected, and he gives up in
despair,
Ceases filed in the paten. Office go first
to the twenty eight principal examiners,
according to the subject matter. If they
/ are rejected for any reason two years is
! allowed in which TO amend them or Co
/ take any other necessary action.
/ II no action has been taken at tho end
| of the two years such cases are then
/ treated ae abandoned and are sent to
! the draftsmen's division, where they are
entered in the books of which | have
made mention and there remain. Fully
! 10000 OF these rejected cases of the last
ten years fall under these conditions
At a low estimate twenty-five thousand
of these rel cted cases put in the hands of
| a competent attorney could be patented
patent attorneys fees on such cases
would be about $50 per casea gross
sum of Sl,260,000, Count out dead, de
/ funct dis yusted, and dead broke inyeu-
/ tors, still an enormous number would get
out patents If they knew how. But the
/ trouble Is just here no one outside the
patent Office is allowed access TO those
| file books. As | said before, if had The
sole privilege of overhauling them
would give $4,000 and then clear $500
600. Then again, there are some fifteen
! thousand cases now lying in the examin-
er's rooms awaitingtho two year limit
/ These are still mores valuable, as IL they
are taken up before the time limit ex-
/ pire, the initial fees do not lapse, while
4 in the ether cases they would have TO be
repaid.
/ This action of the Office was not always
thus. When NJ. ID. Leggett was commits
/ sioner, for about year, attorneys we're
allowed access to all letter books, and
/ previous to that had been alloged access
TO the Giles of abandoned cases, but there
/ was Il constant scrabble and not infre-
quently downright fights over them,
and about 1875 the Office made them sec.
ret.